There is a season...

 

...tern, tern, tern.

;)

Elegant Terns (Thalasseus elegans) have been actively fishing off the coast during the past week.  On August 1st, there was a large flock roosting on Salmon Creek Beach.  (I'm guessing the entire flock was ~200 birds.)

 

Here they are taking off:

 

And out over the ocean:

 

August and September are often the best months for enjoying Elegant Terns in our area.  They are dispersing from their more southerly breeding grounds.  Listen for their distinctive calls (a recording from Tomales Bay is available in the post from 12 August 2012 — if you can't see the audio file at the bottom of the page, click on the link below it).